Porous rubber cleansing article



Patented Feb. 15, 1944 341,818 POROUS RUBBER CLEANSING ARTICLE CorneliusJ. Schellings, South Bend, Ind., assignor to Mishawaka Rubber and WoolenManu- K facturing Company; Mlsh-awaka, Ind., a corporation oi IndianaApplication April 25, 17940, Serial No. 331,489

, 1 Claim.

My invention relates to rubber Sponges; wash cloths and the like and hasreference more\par ticularly to a texture thereof to greatly increasethe desirability and usefulns thereof for washing purposes.

Heretofore bath sponges have been made of conventional sponge rubberwherein milled rubber is compounded upon application of heat, expandsthe rubber compounds and forms, throughout the mass, cells which aresubsequently ruptured so that they intercommunicate with one another.Such sponge materials. however, not only are of a coarse brashy texturewithout softness of feel such as is usually desired for washingpurposes, but it is customary to form the blown rubber in amold whichforms a tough impervious skin on the surface which must be cut or buiedoff with attendant wastage of time and material.

The milled rubber compound, if blown to small cell size is prohibitivelyheavy for bath sponges or the like and ii blown to a reasonably lightWeight thecells are not suiciently retentive to water and it drips andruns annoyingly from the sponge as the latter is used. Furthermore,although the surface of such sponges is unpleasantly stiff and harsh, itdoes not have suilcient frictional resistance or drag on the skin forsatisfactory washing, especially when soapy.

The principal objects of my invention are toprovide an improved rubbersponge, wash cloth or the like; to minimize the weight of such articlesand provide a softness of feel which is pecially pleasing and desirablefor washing purposes; to insure adequate retentiveness to water; toprovide a rubbing surface with sufficient frictional eiect. or drag onthe skin for effective cleansing; and to avoid the wastage of labor andmaterialexperienced in making previous articles for similar purposes,these and other objects being accomplished as pointed out hereinafterand as shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a Wash cloth made in accordance with myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional'view on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a, bath sponge embodying my invention;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the lateral edge of a modied form ofbath sponge; and

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a bath sponge having longitudinal ribs.

Bath Sponges and the like have been made quite extensively for manyyears of conventional of material and surfacing with a blowing agentwhich,

sponge rubber although it has numerous disadvantages above pointed outby reason of which it is not well suited for the purpose. So far as Iknow, however, sponge rubber wash cloths have not been made, presumablybecause of the unsuitability of sponge rubber for that purpose.

I have found, however, that bath Sponges and the like can be made offoamed rubber latex and are far superior to rubber Sponges previouslymade and that even very satisfactory and acceptable Wash clothes can bemade therefrom. Y Foam latex is now quite well., known, having been usedfor a number of years largely in the manufacture of seating cushions,mattresses and the like, and may be prepared for the present purpose inany conventional manner, as for example, in accordance with the pendingapplication of Blair, Bradley and Schott. Serial No. 70,264 in whichcompounded latex is mixed with a. separately prepared foam of suitabledensity for the particular purpose for which ityis to be employed.

In the .present case a fine textured latex foam of alow density andlight weight is preferred with openings or interstices throughout ofsubstantially or approximately capillary size, not only to afford highretentivity to water but also for extreme softness and close texture ofrubbing surface which is more eective than the coarse brashy surfacewith relatively large openings which is characteristic of blown rubberSponges. Such latex foam material is of an especially absorbentcharacter and is particularly suitable for cleansing articles in whichits capacity for holding water is important.

The latex foam material, in unvulcanized form is poured into a mold andthen cured. On the molded surfaces of this material a ne texturedpervious skin is formed which does not have to be buffed off or removedas was necessary in the previous blown rubber Sponges, as this skin has'frictional characteristics suitable for washing purposes. Moreover theskin thus formed provides a substantial surface reinforcing whichenhances the strength of the material to resist abrasive and tearingstrains. Y

In making wash cloths of this latex foam material a layer of thematerial is interposed and cured between plates which re spaced apartsufficiently to provide the desi` d thickness for wash cloth purposesand it may of course, be made in individual molds of the size desiredfor the wash cloth or in large sheets which are subsequently cut intopieces of proper size for the Wash cloths. In either event the curing ofthe material in the mold or between plates fonns a beneficial.

Preferably the posite sides as these formations not only increase thewashing effectiveness of the surface and ailord a hlght massaging eiectwhich is pleasing and facilitates cleansing but they also increase theskin area and afford extensibility thereof in a direction tramsversev tothe ribs without appreciable stretching of the rubber skin and thuscontribute greatly to increase the effectiveness of the 'skin as asafeguard against abrasive and tearing strains.

Referring to the drawing in which Figs. 1 and 2 are illustrative ofawash cloth made in accordance with my invention, the reference numeralI indicates a foam rubber which as above indicated is of a soft nnetexture and low density with small openings or interstices throughouthighly receptive and retentive to water. This sheet I0 is made in anysize desired for wash cloth purposes and is formed on opposite Il and I2respectively throughout the area, the

wash cloth is made with ribs or other rough surfacing formations on theopv4 thin sheet of vulcanized sides with parallel ribs t ribs II on oneside preferably being arranged at right angles to the ribs I2 of theAother side as shown. Thus the sheet material has substantially uniformflexibility in all directions which would not obtain if the vribs onboth sides extended in the same direction since the material would thentend to bend freely along the lines of the ribs and much less freelyalong lines transverse to the ribs. Moreover, the arrangement of theribs AII and I2 at right angles increases. thexstrength of the materialas ribs in the same direction on both sides would necessarily result inplaces of extreme thinness where thematerial would be more easily torn.

These ribs II and I2 are produced by interposing and curing theunvulcanized latex foam between plates which are suitably formed ontheir inner faces so that the unvulcanized latex foam assumes the ribbedsurface form and in the curing of the latex foam a skin I3 is formed `oneach side of the sheet I0 which of course, corresponds to the ribbedform II or I! of the respective surface.

This skin, while it is quite pervious,

, integral water invention, the scope of which is gree of toughness towithstand abrasive and tearing strains and its capability ofwithstanding such strains is greatly increased by the ribbed contourthereof. This is due not only to the increased amount of reinforcingskin which the ribbed form of surface occasions but also to therelieving of stretching strains on the skin` does not cause appreciablestretching strains on the skin I3. y

Referring now to the sponge shown in Fig. 3, it will be noted that thisarticle consists of two layers Il and I5 of the vulcanized foam latexbonded together by means of a layer of suitable cement I6 therebetween,although it will be understood that the 'sponge may, if desired, beformed of an integral blank instead of the two layers I4 and I5. Theouter surface of each layer I4 and I5 is provided with ribs I1,substantially identical with the ribs of the wash cloth I0. It will beunderstood however, that any size and arrangement of ribs may beemployed, as for example, larger ribs I8 may be formed on one surface ofthe sponge as shown in Fig. 4 than the ribs I9 on the opposite side orthe ribs on one side may extend longitudinally of the sponge asindicated at 20 in Fig. 5.

While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, I amaware that various changes and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of my mined by the appended claim.

' I claim as my invention: A A wash cloth composed of a sheet of finetextured, highly porous soft foam sponge rubber and having ribs on eachside thereof, the ribs on one side arranged transversely to the ribs onthe other side, said ribs being covered with an permeable rubber skin..CORNELIU to be deter- A S J. SCHELLINGS. 1

